Bike messenger guilty in death

CHICAGO — Jurors said Thursday that overwhelming eyewitness testimony influenced their decision to convict one-time bicycle messenger Matthew Givens of first-degree murder for pushing a commuter down a flight of stairs at Union Station in 1999.

"There were too many eyewitnesses," said juror Michael Garrett of Orland Park. "It wasn't cut and dried, but it was pretty close to being cut and dried."

Givens, who had been convicted in 1994 of stalking an ex-girlfriend, sat perfectly still at the defense table and never flinched or blinked as the verdict was read.

Givens faces up to 60 years in prison when he is sentenced by Judge Dennis Porter on July 10.